Henri LEBASQUE NU SUR UNE PEAU DE PANTHERE, circa 1932 Born on September 25, 1865 in the Maine et Loire region, Henri Lebasque began his artistic training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Angers and continued his education in Bonnat's studio in Paris. However, he was primarily influenced by his friendship with Pissarro and his encounter with Signac and Luce at the 1893 Salon des Indépendants. He began to use his talent on depictions of landscapes along the banks of the Marne river and family scenes. In 1906, he discovered Mediterranean light thanks to an invitation from Henri Manguin to visit the Villa Dermière in Saint-Tropez, an experience that generated a lighter, more colorful palette. For over thirty years his family provided the figures that inhabit the interior and exterior scenes of works inspired by the places he lived. After living in Saint-Tropez and Sainte-Maxime, he finally settled in Cannet in 1924. A friend and neighbor of Bonnard, he was inspired to address the nude motif. Lebasque, like Bonnard, paints the nude voluptuously yet chastely. Paul Vitry writes: He allowed his model to "live and move freely within the sunny house, among the carpets, sofas, armchairs, in front of the open windows. Depicting a series of unassuming, humble poses, he evokes a feeling of natural, nonchalant movement..." In Nu sur une peau de panthère, the model Marinette is posing. Lebasque transforms her into paint in a remarkable expression of his talent that, like many other works, was to bring him success and fame throughout his lifetime.